Chapter 13

::July 21::

"How could this have happened?!" Ryo ranted as he once again found himself pacing the floors of his front room. Everyone now knew about the disappearance of the youngest of the Lady Ronins. Leinto had been summoned by them but the charge had no answers as to her whereabouts nor did he know of who had taken her. Leinto was acting shady about the whole thing though, somehow seemingly knowing more then what he was saying but was keeping it to himself. The girls had been told, but were kept out of the conversation that their father's now held ---they weren't too happy about it either. The other men sat around in the front room watching their once leader pace idly as the aging charge sat quietly with staff in hand, his gray eyes silently following the dark haired man as he walked back and forth in front of him.

"Ryo man, we all understand that you're upset and obviously worried about where Lea is but don't you think you should chill out?" Kento suggested from his seat next to Cye on the couch. The ex-water Ronin nodded his head to back up what Kento had said.

"Chill out?" Ryo repeated as he stopped his pacing to glance over at Kento with wide, almost unbelieving eyes. "You want me to chill out? How can I chill out when I don't even know where my daughter is or what's happening to her?!"

"Ryo, please just calm down for a minute," Rowen said to try and persuade the fiery tempered man. Ryo loosing his temper now and going off on a rampage was not going to help any of them.

"Yelling and screaming isn't going to bring Rylea back or help us find her any faster," Sage added to the conversation from where he stood leaning against the wall opposite them with arms crossed. The blond seemed to be almost annoyed by Ryo's lack of self control.

Ryo conceded to their pleadings and did as they had asked him to do, with a sigh and growl of aggravation he sat down on the couch next to Kento. Leaning over he rested his forearms on his knees and covered his face with his hands, trying to block out the new problems he had. The graying charge stood slowly from his spot with the help of his staff, leaning on it slightly as he stood to look at each man sitting or standing in the room. "I must go now," he stated to them in an almost apologetic tone. "I will gather as much information as I can concerning the disappearance of Rylea and get back to you shortly." His statement ended, the charge gave them a bow and was gone from the room.

Kento reached over and patted Ryo on the back, trying to lighten the dismal mood that hung over them all he said, "Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to deal with her now." Cye cleared his throat and made a cutting motion with his hand against his throat to try and signal to Kento to cut it out or not say anything else. Kento just blinked at the brunette with a light shrug, not really seeing where what he had said was all that bad.

Cye glared at Kento as he spoke, "I don't think Ryo wants to look at this that way Kento," he said to the oriental man who only shrugged as the brunette sighed audibly.

"What we need to think about right now is a plan or course of action. Do we leave the girls out of this or do we involve them?" Sage added to the conversation thoughtfully from where he still stood leaned against the fore wall with arms crossed.

Ryo chuckled cynically at Kento's words, not really finding them funny but more so ironic. Pulling his hands down his face he stared around at his friends. The Ronin Warriors, or more like the EX-Ronin Warriors now. Even though they had given up fighting a long time ago and now had passed the armor on, they still acted like they were the Ronin Warriors. As soon as the news of Rylea's kidnapping had spread all five of them had immediately met up at Ryo's place to discuss what their next move was ---the same thing they would have done when they were still in business. I guess old habits die hard. Ryo thought with a slight smirk before he stood to address the others. "I think," he started in a loud enough voice to gain the other's attention. "that we need to involve the girls in this even though we don't want to. As much as we don't want to admit it, we really can't do much. They have the armors and this is their battle."

Rowen bobbed his head back and forth as if he agreed with what Ryo was saying but not totally, "I agree that they should be involved in this but I don't think that we should just sit back and not do anything."

"Yeah," Kento agreed with a nod of his ash-blue head. "We may not have the armors any more but we can still kick some ass if needed to."

"You all know that I'm not one to fight, but if we need to help them then yes I will," Cye consented with down cast eyes. The idea of fighting again didn't sound all that pleasant to him, but if his daughter needed his help then Cye wasn't going to just sit back and do nothing.

Sage uncrossed his arms as he walked over to Ryo and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Ryo," he said, "you know I've got your back through anything. Now is not the time to sit back and act like we've been crippled because we don't have the armors. We are more experienced in battles then the girls are and they will need our help in finding Rylea. It's time that we all realized that the vacation is over and that it ended when the armors were awakened. The Ronin Warriors are needed once again."

Ryo glanced around at the faces of his friends, his companions and battle partners. They had been through hell and back, had survived against all odds together and he knew that he could depend on them to always be there for him and never steer him wrong. It was time that he came to the realization that his happy little vacation and normal life was over and probably for good. The Ronins had been called into battle again and fight they would, armor or not. With a smile he held out his hand, palm down and said, "Ronins."

With a smile and glance at each other the other Ronins got up to walk to Ryo and lay their hands on his. Together they all said, "Ronins," and once again they were the Ronin Warriors.

"Ow, oh my head," Rylea groaned as she opened her eyes and groggily tried to make herself raise her head to look around at her surroundings. She was confused when her eyes settled upon the settings of her surroundings and didn't recognize where she was "Where am I?"

Her tiger blue eyes searched around the place she found herself in perplexed and fearful confusion. Her surroundings were dark, cold, wet and smelled of mildew. Water drops fell from above her and landed on the already started puddles on the cement floor beside her. She shivered slightly and wasn't sure if it was from being cold or because she sensed an evil aura all around her. It hung so think in the air that she was sure that if she looked close enough she could see it. Trying to move her arms proved to be useless since heavy chains were clamped around her wrists and hung from the stone wall behind her.

Rylea groaned again as a searing pain jolted through her head with an intensity so great that it made her cry out from it. Her body ached and burned from the inside out as the feeling like a wall of pressure was building behind her eyes filled her head. "So I see you are awake finally, Rylea. Or should I now be calling you Wildfire?" a males voice asked of her from the shadows that surrounded her.

Rylea tried to open her eyes against the pounding pain that ran through her head with searing, hot intensity ---barely being able to get them open, "Who-Who are you?! What do you want?!"

A chuckle floated from the shadows, "My, for someone who's in a very bad situation you sure are quick to get an attitude, aren't you?"

"Yeah, well why don't you show yourself! Or are you too afraid to?" Rylea shouted back angrily at the mystery person, now opening her eyes wide as the pain left her momentarily.

Another loud, sinister, chuckle came from the shadows around her. Rylea bared her teeth and growled, she was starting to lose her temper quickly with whoever this person was and that was not a good thing. A man stepped from the shadows around her, smiling broadly at her as he revealed himself at last. "Is this better?" he asked her back almost mockingly.

Rylea gasped as she stared at the person in front of her. He was tall, dark skinned with long silver hair. His outfit, as simple as it was, consisted of a black muscle T, gray dress pants, black boots and a silver-gray cape lay behind him to complete the ensemble. Something about this man triggered a memory far back in her mind, but Rylea couldn't bring it forth for some reason. "Who-Who," she stuttered out in uncertainty, but couldn't form the rest of her sentence.

The man smiled coldly at her, "Who am I? Don't tell me you don't remember me Rylea. I'm almost hurt by that."

"Almost? Darn, and here I was aiming to really cut you deep," Rylea sarcastically retorted back at the man she knew nothing about.

The man smiled more as if amused by her and walked closer to the chained girl. Rylea eyed him cautiously as she withdrew from his sudden closeness, not liking him or his aura at all ---he had a feeling of death that surrounded him completely. The silver haired man eyed her while the smile on his face never changed. Rylea hated the way he looked at her ---it was like he was inspecting a piece of meat and she was the poultry of choice. Now she wished more then anything that she would have picked a more conspicuous training outfit. It made her uncomfortable with the way he was just staring at her, not even saying anything. Finally the silver haired man grinned broadly and said, "You have no idea as to what you really are, do you?"

Rylea looked up at him, glaring defiantly back at the smile he gave her. She was tempted to spit in his face and tell him to go to hell but instead bit her tongue and resigned her self to at least be sarcastic with him. "No, why don't you tell me," she retorted smugly.

The dark skinned man stepped closer to her, his face now only a few dangerous inches away from hers. She could now smell the pungent fume of his aftershave and it repulsed her. "You're very special. Not many humans get to be what you've become Lea," he stated to her in hushed tones as if what he were saying was not meant to be heard by other ears.

Rylea recoiled her face back away from his, frightened by how menacing he looked. "What are you talking about? Can't you just speak plain Japanese and its Rylea to you pal," she spat back at him defiantly with a glare. "Only my family and friends get to call me Lea and you sir are definitely not my friend or family."

"Oh but you see I am family to you because you're a hybrid, a demon and a part of me. A very special hybrid to be exact. You have no clue as to what kind of power you hold inside you," he replied and touched her chest lightly where her two necklaces laid. "A power that most hybrids can only dream of holding. Your power rivals that of a purebreds."

"I'm a demon you said?" Rylea repeated as if not hearing him right with a glare to show that she didn't appreciate being touched. When the dark skinned man nodded to clarify that she was, Rylea erupted into a fit of laughter. "That's a good one. I'm the daughter of a Ronin Warrior and you tell me I'm a demon. Ha, ha, ha, that's funny."

The corners of the man's mouth flinched at her antics, he was starting to lose his patience with her now. She was mocking him and that was something that he didn't tolerate. "Think what you want to think, but very soon your powers will awaken and you will see that what I say is true," he said and turned from her to leave before he ended up strangling her. "I hear its going to be a new moon on your birthday this year too."

Rylea stared after him, she didn't want for the guy to leave just yet. "Hey!" she shouted after him. "Get back here! I wasn't done talking to you! Grrr, my father is going to kill you when he finds me! You hear me?! Kill you!"

The man didn't even so much as flinch at her shouts and promises of death as he walked away ---he was a purebred and the promises of a mortal killing him wasn't really all that threatening to him. Rylea growled when it became evident that he either didn't care or wasn't paying her any heed. This infuriated her by not only him not listening to her but by her also being held captive. She pulled at her chains with all her strength in a vain attempt to break free. Finally giving up with an agitated growl when it became clear to her that she wasn't going to be able to break them. Rylea needed to conserve her energy and it was pointless to try and get free. Giving in to the fact she wouldn't be getting out just yet, Rylea instead started to devise a plan in her mind. She had to get out ---that's the only thing she knew.

::July 22::

The Sanada house was abnormally quiet with only the exception of the sounds coming from the coffee maker in the kitchen. A day had now passed, it was Monday and still none of them were any closer to finding Rylea. Leinto had been little or no help at all in aiding them in the search for her, but to be truthful, none of them had really expected to get much from him anyway.

The morning sun shone through the open windows to create shadows against the running matt on the upstairs floor. Ryo yawned, stretching his arms to the sky as he made his way to his daughter's room. Opening the door to her room he said, "Lea it's time-" before stopping when the realization hit him ---Rylea wasn't there.

Her room was completely empty. The bed still unmade from the last time she'd slept in it and clothes from the day before littered her floor. Ryo had gone to wake her up like he usually did in the morning, forgetting that she wasn't there. A wave of grief hit him with the impact of a tidal wave as his shoulders slumped and his eyes fell to the floor. Before he knew what he was doing, Ryo found his feet had him moving in the direction of her bed. He looked over the empty bed with its red comforter and white sheets ---gently touching her stuffed animals that were strewn all over the bed. Ryo lifted the stuffed tiger from its position on her bed and stared at it as if he were reading something ---tears came to his eyes and he had to sit down on the edge of her bed as his knees started to buckle beneath him.

Ryo sniffed back the hot tears that laid just behind his eyes, refusing to let himself cry. He instead cradled the stuffed tiger in his arms and looked around Rylea's room with a stern, almost unemotional expression ---trying his best to keep himself from letting the tears that he knew were still there flow. His eyes silently scanned over the numerous trophies, ribbons and medals she had for basket ball and gymnastics that she'd collected over the years, hanging on her walls with pictures next to them or sitting on shelves on the walls. Once again he felt the hot tears well up in his eyes, but held them back ---closing his eyes against them, determined that he wasn't going to give in to his grief.

A soft hand gently clamped down on his shoulder, shaking Ryo from his thoughts as he reeled back in surprise ---glancing over his shoulder to see who the hand belonged to. Ryu's frowning face looked back at him, the brown haired man's face showed just how concerned he was for his father. "You ok?" he asked his Dad.

Ryo nodded his head softly as he stood and replaced the tiger back to where he had gotten it from. His tiger blue eyes lingered on it for a moment or two before he sighed and closed them, silently trying to regain his strength before he spoke. "Yeah, I just forgot that-" he couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, knowing full well what the answer he would come up with would be.

Ryu put a comforting arm around his father's shoulders as he lead him out of his sister's room and softly shut the door behind them. "Dad, it's going to be ok. We're going to find her," he told him with confidence, but it sounded fake and like he had practiced saying it to just try and pacify his father.

Ryo smiled at his son, knowing that Ryu was saying that to assure himself as well. He put his arm around his son and hugged him as he said, "Have I told you that I love you lately Rye?"

Ryu groaned in nothing short of annoyance while grumbling out, "Dad, please tell me that you're not going to go all mushy on my while Lea's gone."

"Humor me Rye. Have I?" he asked him back, still hugging the boy that now stood as tall as he did.

Ryu sighed but resigned himself to answer his father's question, "No, not lately. Not that I remember anyway."

"Well Rye, I do. I love you son and thanks for trying to make me feel better," Ryo told his son as he still hugged him, enjoying more than anything the fact that he was getting on the young man's last nerve.

"Ok, ok, I love you too Dad now can you please stop with the mushiness?" Ryu pleaded as he pushed his father away from him as fast as he could with a scorn at being made hug him and looked around as if expecting someone with a camera to jump out and shout 'you're on candid camera!'

Ryo laughed at his son's face with a bright smile, "You know, at least your sister hugs me back with out me begging her to."

"Lea's also a girl and a Daddy's girl for that matter. I'm a guy and turning nineteen; sorry but the whole 'hug your father' thing doesn't really appeal to me all that much any more," Ryu informed his father with crossed arms and an indigent frown on his handsome face. Ryo went quiet at the mention of Rylea as his eyes slowly fell to rest on the floor. Ryu cursed himself for being so insensitive of his father's feelings. "Gomen ne, Otousan. I shouldn't have brought Lea into this," he apologized sincerely for his comment.

Ryo smiled lightly as he brought his eyes back up to look at him shyly, as if not believing him he asked, "Do you really think Lea's a Daddy's girl?"

Ryu laughed at his father's lack of seeing what was obviously true. Chuckling he replied, "Hai, Dad I know she is. She still calls you Daddy for Christ sake even when she's not wanting something from you." Ryo chuckled lightly at his reply. Ryu did have a point, Rylea did do that. "Plus," Ryu continued with a smile. "You two have this tight Father-Daughter bond that I don't think anything could break. So yes, I know for a fact that she is and always will be a Daddy's girl."

Ryo smiled sadly as he thought over what all Ryu had stated to him. His son had a point with most of what he said and he did agree with the fact that they did, or at least he liked to think, that he and his daughter had a strong bond. A moment or two passed before he finally replied, "Arigatou, Rye. It cheered me up to hear you say that, even if its not true."

"Good. Now I hope you know that if you don't get a move on it you'll be late for work," he added, pointing his tanned arm out at the clock that hung on the downstairs wall.

"I get it, I get it," Ryo said as he walked backwards for the bathroom and smirked accusingly at his son. "You know, sometimes you're a lot like your Mother Rye."

Ryu laughed out loud at his father's comment, finding him funny as he walked down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen ---Ryo smirked more at his reaction before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind himself. Ryu chuckled as he pondered out loud to himself, "Me like Mom? Now that's a laugh."

A billow of steam flowed from the bathroom as the door was opened and Ryo exited it with a towel wrapped around his waist. Even for a man who wasn't in his teens any more, he still had the same toned body only tanner. Ignoring the clock that hung on the wall downstairs, Ryo headed for his room to get dressed. Time was something that there was never enough of, he'd learned that over the years. Never enough time to share with loved ones, never enough time to do the things you wanted to do ---time, the one thing that you can never get back but always wished you could.

Downstairs the doorbell rang its tune and Ryu went to answer it. Opening the front door he was surprised to find three of his uncles standing outside it. "Um, something happen I should know about?" he asked jokingly with a small smile on his face.

"Is your father still here, Ryu?" Sage asked him, there was no humor in his voice as he and the other two men stood outside the door with very stern; almost emotionless expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, I think he's still getting around. Come in you guys," he told them as he held the door open more for them to enter ---Kento, Sage and Cye walked in, dropping their shoes by the door and walked into the front room with Ryu tagging behind them.

Ryo came down the stairs as he still worked to button up his white collard shirt, a look of perplexed astonishment settled over his handsome features as he found three of his best friends in his living room. "Um, hey guys. Don't tell me you're here to check up on me," he said to them with a calm smile, trying to act as if nothing were wrong although he were really drowning inside.

"Nah, more like we came to get you so we can all go do some lookin around for your hot headed daughter, Ryo while the girls are in school," Kento informed him with a huge smile on his face. He was once again dressed in his police uniform, complete with gun and all.

"Oh," Ryo replied, the smile he had plastered on his face to mask how he was really feeling wavered a bit as his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Kento, well we all, figured it might help if we did," Cye added hastily as if he could see the despair in Ryo's eyes.

"That's nice guys but what about my job? How about yours for that matter?" Ryo pointed out to them.

"Don't worry about it. I already talked to Saksai this morning and told her that because of a family emergency you might be out for a while. She's got you all covered," Sage replied to his statement about work.

"I'm a police officer so technically I'm working," Kento added as he looped his thumbs onto the belt on his pants that held his gun and handcuffs.

"And I took the day off," Cye said to finish up the explanations about work. "Rowen would have joined in too but you know how demanding his job is."

"Well, it seems like you all have this whole thing worked out already," Ryo replied with a smirk at the three standing before him.

"Well maybe not everything," Cye spoke up sheepishly as he stole a glance over at the other two men standing next to him. "We're not exactly sure as to where to start looking for her."

"Hm," Ryo said as he pondered over where they could start first. None of them were really sure where any of the new demons would be hiding or where any gates to the dynasty, if they were behind it, would be. After Talpa had been defeated for the last time and they had all given up using the armor for what they had hoped would be forever, they had lost track of those things. The other thing was, they were assuming that whoever had taken Rylea had been of the demon race and not been just a regular human ---they were just automatically assuming it was one.

The soft clank of a staff hitting the floor broke the silence that had fallen over the four as Leinto appeared with them, his weathered face showing that he had spent many hours worrying over something. "I think I could be of some help," he told them all. "I know where you all should start to look."

"Do you now?" Ryo replied, Leinto's lack of sharing information with them when they all needed it and showing them little or no indication that he was even in the slightest bit concerned with the disappearance of his daughter, had left Ryo a little perturbed with the aging charge.

Leinto nodded his graying head in acknowledgement to Ryo's question, taking the hint that the dark haired man was growing angry with him and conceded that he had every right to be. "I'm not exactly sure as to the exact location as to where Rylea is, but I have an idea as to where we should all start our search," he said to all of the young fathers in front of him simply and turned from them to exit the house. "Follow me please."

Kento looked around at the others with a less than amused smirk on his face, "So do we play follow the leader and listen to the old guy?"

Ryo sighed audibly and turned to head back upstairs to his room, "Yeah, let me change and we'll go with him," he shouted back down to the others as he entered his room to change out of his dress clothes for work and into a more casual look for the searching he was going to be doing.

A loud clattering noise disturbed the stillness in the air as a person was flung into trash cans in an alleyway, the sound bouncing off the brick walls of the buildings surrounding them and amplifying the sound. The person, or more like demon, tried to climb back to its feet quickly to get away from his assailant before his attacker could get him again, but failed.

Tadin smirked while watching the demon try to desperately get to its feet. With two quick steps he was looming over top of the crawling thing, grabbing it by the throat and hauling it up in the air before slamming it against the brick wall behind it. The thing kicked its legs that dangled a good three feet off the ground helplessly as fear shot across its face. "Please! Please, I beg of you, spare me!" it whimpered out in the demon dialect.

Tadin smiled on one side of his mouth, his fingers tightening around the thing's throat more. "Where is she? Who took her and where do they have her?" he shouted at it angrily. Earlier that day he had found out from Adian and Sato that someone had already captured and was holding the demon Rylea. Now Tadin had been on a mad dash trying to find out who that person was and where they had her ---so far no one knew anything.

"I-I don't know what you are talking about! What girl?" the struggling demon once again answered in the demon language.

Tadin growled and banged him against the side of the building again, "Don't play dumb with me! Who took Rylea the new hybrid and where have they taken her to?"

The demon gurgled as it fought to keep air coming into its lungs, "Oh, ha ha, that girl. Me didn't know who you were talking about." Tadin's fingers grasped tighter around its neck and it squealed out the information that Tadin needed hastily, "She's at the temple! They took her to the temple!"

Tadin released the demon and it fell to the ground below him, he watched it scurry away as quickly as it could with an angry glare at its back. "The temple, huh," he spoke to himself as he turned from the alley and begun to make his way there. The temple the demon had spoken of was situated deep in the heart of the demon community ---the place that Tadin hated to go, but would head into without a second thought for a demon who he was supposed to have rights over.

Rylea pulled and tugged at the chains that imprisoned her to the wall behind her with all her strength. She growled and howled with outrage when she couldn't get the chains to break loose. Already a day now she had been there, a prisoner for someone who was obviously off his rocker. She'd wasted enough of her time and energy on trying to tug her way loose from the chains and now what she needed to do was come up with a plan. Rylea frowned as she thought over what she could do. Ok, lets see here. I know they send someone down here three times a day to give me food and someone checks on me at least every hour. Yeah ok, how bout I jus ask one of them nicely to let me go. Yeah, great plan Lea. So glad to see my brain is working.

The dark haired girl smirked at her rambling thoughts. True, they did feed her three times a day but the stubborn girl refused to take food from them. The fact that she hadn't eaten for a day had started to creep up on her now. Already she could feel that her strength wasn't at its normal and that was going to wear her down greatly. "Great, think Lea. What would Dad do if he was in this situation?" she asked her self aloud.

A door creaked loudly above her, signaling that someone was coming to either check on her or give her her meal for the day. Think fast, come on there has to be somethin I can do to get them to take these chains off me. That's all I'd need to be able to get out of here. Rylea smirked suddenly as a thought struck her, What if I were to fake being hurt or something? Then they'd for sure take these things off me to see what was wrong. Yea! Lea you're a genius! Acting quickly, Rylea closed her eyes and pretended to be passed out, making her body seem limp as the sound of foot steps neared her. As much as she could, she slowed her breathing down to make it look realer.

A, what appeared to be, human with green skin and a lizard's tail walked into the dark chamber that Rylea was held in. The demon became alarmed when he found her dangling form seemingly lifeless. Rushing to her side he quickly undid the chains that were clamped onto her arms and checked her over to see if she were still alive. Without warning her eyes snapped open and her fist went slamming across the thing's face before it could shout for help or put her back in the chains. Rylea then backhand sprung away from the demon as he crumpled to the floor in one massive heap. "Thanks pal," she said to him with a smirk as she ran past his unconscious form and towards the door she hoped would lead her out of the place she had found herself in.

Peeking around the door that lead into the chamber she had been held in, Rylea did a quick sweep of the surroundings to make sure that no one was either guarding or around the area before she went running from the door. Finding no sign of anyone or anything for that matter, the dark haired ninja stealthy and on silent feet took off from the dark chamber she had been held prisoner in and made her way down the corridor she came to ---her eyes were kept alert to any movements in the shadows surrounding her that could give way to a thing hiding within its dark grasp as she continued on her way. Rylea thought it strange that there weren't more demons guarding the area, but brushed it aside as just her stroke of good luck.

Coming to the end of the hallway she had been running down she stopped and flattened herself against the cold wall to peer around the corner, her tiger blue eyes searched the seemingly deserted hallway with uneasiness. For people who had gone to a great expense to capture her they were making it very easy for her to get back out. Brushing her thoughts off the young Wildfire slid around the corner, still pressed against it as if she could blend in with her surroundings ---her eyes still searched the area for any enemies she might come in contact with. Her instincts kept telling her that something was amiss with how there was no one there to stop her and that ninja part of her had her on the edge as she continued down the hallway.

Rylea scanned over the things she found on the walls and above her as she padded down the hall on silent feet. A red runner rug that was trimmed in gold ran down the floor beneath her and paintings or murals hung from the white walls beside her. The dark haired girl stopped to look at one of the murals, her dark eyebrows narrowing into a frown as she looked over the pictures on it. Her tiger blue eyes became wide as she looked over the pictures of fierce, frightening creatures fighting what appeared to be samurai in some ancient battle. Rylea gasped and stepped back from the mural she had been looking at when she recognized what the samurai in the mural were wearing ---they were wearing the Ronin armor.

"Nani...." Rylea gasped out in complete perplexity as she blinked rapidly, still staring at the samurai in the mural and who or what they were fighting. Her eyes came to rest on the person wearing the same red armor that she was destined to bare, taking in what the person was doing with katanas held high in a deadly arch over one of the creatures.

"Impressive work isn't it?"

Rylea snapped back to reality when a deep, male's voice came from beside her. She snapped her head over in the direction the voice had come from and glared at the person she found standing half hidden in the shadows. "What is this thing?" she replied back to the unknown person fiercely, her voice demanding an answer from him whether he wanted to give her one or not.

A chuckle wavered from the man in the shadows as he took a step towards her and out of the darkness. His long silver hair that was held back by a ponytail swished behind him and his stern, almost menacing face stared down at her with an amused smile on his lips. "Demanding aren't we?" he said with an air of mockery in his words. "If you must know, it is said to be a prophecy of the past and battle to come. The Supreme made this mural over a hundred years ago to illustrate the battle between demons, like myself, and the samurai who fight to protect the mortal world."

"Meaning me?" Rylea replied back to him, she recognized the voice of the man as the same guy who had told her of who she was supposedly. She now regarded this man wearily, she didn't trust his sanity at all.

"You no longer are the same person you were destined to be," he said to her while taking a casual step towards her. His fierce eyes looked down at her, staring at her like a wolf would its prey right before it lunges on it.

Rylea eyed him with a frown, her blue eyes setting into a glare at how arrogant he was acting with her. She took a tentative step back away from him, wanting to put as much distance between herself and this maniac while she silently searched for a way away from him, "What do you mean by no longer who I was destined to be?"

The man smiled humorously at her, his smile looking unnatural and almost unnerving ---it was like watching the grim reaper smile. "I've already answered you on that," he replied to her and then added to the confused frown he got from her, "This mural depicts the battle that is soon to come. A fight that will break out between mortals and demons. You and your friends, the new Ronins, were supposed to lead this against us. I've fixed this little problem though."

Rylea took another step away from the menacing man who kept advancing on her slowly and casually with that cruel almost mocking smile on his face. For some reason, when she was around or near this man she felt that presence with in her start to pace and awaken more. It was crawling now, just hiding beneath the surface; waiting to be let out. She needed to get away from this person; away from this place and back to her home where she knew she would be safe. The only problem was, the way out was through him and he didn't look like he was going to move anytime soon to let her just walk by him. The man grinned at her, taking a step towards the almost cowering girl to close the gap between them. "Come now, come with me and I promise that you won't regret it," he told her calmly and extended his right hand out to her, almost expecting her to take his hand.

Rylea leaned away from his hand, repulsed by the idea of having to touch him. This guy was obviously off his rocker and now he wanted her to come with him? "Um, thanks but I think I'll pass on that offer if you don't mind," she said and turned to run back down the corridor she had just come from, thinking that she could find another way out.

Demon guards stood at the entrance to the hall, blocking her way out with swords held up in an aggressive manner. She skidded to stop just before them and back tracked, her plan to get away had just been shot to pieces and there was no other way in or out that she could see. Rylea was trapped in the hall with guards blocking her one way and a psycho guy at the other end. Just great, now what do I do? She asked her self helplessly while she stood ridged and ready to fight if she had to. Laughing floated to her ears from the other end of the hall.

"Rylea you don't think ahead of time do you?" the guy asked her, "Did you really think that I would let you go that easily? I don't care whether you want to join me or not, you will."

"Ah, sorry to ruin your plans bud but I'm not going to be joining you and your little crew of uglies any time soon," Rylea shot back at him hotly, her temper was starting to show its head now. This guy had pushed her way past her limit.

The guy shrugged off her words as if they meant nothing to him and shouted to the demons standing in the doorway in the demon language, "Get her!" The demons immediately advanced on Rylea's small form, following out the orders that the higher ranking man had barked at them.

The young ninja was ready for them though and within minutes she had them disarmed and on the ground. Smiling in triumph she turned back to the man who stood behind her, "Is that the best you got?" As if to answer her question more demons surrounded her, taking her off guard this time. She groaned as she looked around at the menacing faces looming over her now, "I just had to ask didn't I?"

The purebred smiled as he looked on at the scene before him, thinking that he had her now. As if to prove him wrong, Tadin appeared through the doorway leading into the hall they all stood in and leapt onto the demons surrounding Rylea ---striking them down one by one with his sword until there were no more. Rylea blinked as she stared at the dingy blond in front of her, this whole thing was starting to become weirder and weirder to her by the minute. "Tadin?" she asked hesitantly, almost afraid that it wasn't him but another trick.

"Come on," Tadin shouted back at her as he grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled her along behind him. He had to get her out of there before anymore of the guards could show up. Rylea yelped as she was roughly pulled along behind him, trying her best to keep up with his pace.

The silver haired man glared as he watched the young hybrid Tadin lead his prey away from him. So close he had been to taking her, so close to finishing what he had started. So close and yet now it had all been taken away again. His lips curled into a snarl and he screamed in aggravation. "Get them you fools! I want Rylea and that hybrid Tadin back at my feet now!" he bellowed to his minions who quickly ran off to do as they had been told. Seething he turned to leave the hall he was in when something caught his eye. Interested in what it could be, the man bent down and picked up the necklace he had found on the floor. A sinister smile crept to his lips as his eyes looked over the silver pendant he held in his hands. "Looks like I got something out of this after all," he said to himself as he then turned and exited the hall with Rylea's pendant in his hand.

Tadin and Rylea ran as fast as they could away from the temple that had held Rylea prisoner, it was now becoming smaller and smaller in the distance behind them. The dingy blond jerked her into an alley way once they were far enough away and hid behind a dumpster that was there. He covered her mouth with his hand when a few of the demons entered into the alley and made himself and her blend into the shadows that surrounded them as a way to stay hidden from them. Both teens waited anxiously with breath held as they watched them search the alley and then leave as they had come. Once Tadin was sure they were gone he emerged from the shadows with Rylea and looked out at the street before them. "They're gone, you're safe now," he told her before then turning around to face her. He frowned when he found her leaning against the side of a building, breathing hard with face contorted into a mask of pain and anguish. With two quick steps he was at her side, "You ok? Rylea, what's wrong?"

The dark haired girl didn't reply to him as the pain surged through her body. She gritted her teeth together to keep from crying out and waited until it had passed to say anything to him. Tadin kept a concerned eye on her, afraid that something had happened to her while she was there. Rylea took in a few deep breaths and straightened when the pain had passed, "I'm ok," she replied to him with a strained smile.

Tadin didn't seem convinced though, "Sure you are," he replied to her.

Rylea smirked at him cockily, "I am now drop it," she retorted and then a glare replaced her smirk. "Who or what are you exactly and who was that guy?" she shot off questions to him, pointing back in the general direction that they had come from to indicate who she was talking about.

Tadin sighed and turned away from her. She wasn't going to believe him and he really didn't want to tell her what he was. He was ashamed of what he was and what he been trying to do. Rylea glared more at his back and took him roughly by the arm to spin him back around to meet her face, "I asked you a question."

Tadin eyed her for a few minutes, silently taking in her features, almost memorizing them incase he never saw her again after this. With a sigh he gave up and answered her questions. "I'm a demon, a hybrid to be exact and that man who held you captive was Sirous. He's a purebred who will stop at nothing to get you," he told her quietly with down cast eyes.

Rylea stepped back from him quickly as if he had just slapped her and frowned in confusion, "Nani?" she whispered out in disbelief. "So you're one of them?"

"No," he replied sternly and took her squarely by the shoulders to look her directly in the eyes. "I'm not one of them one of them. I'm just a demon who happens to be caught up in their world. I'm nothing like them Rylea, you have to believe me."

Rylea silently eyed him, not sure whether he was telling the truth or lying to her. She wanted to believe him and in a way she did. He had help her escape from them and had been generally concerned about her well being but that all could have just been a front. He could really be on their side and only playing her. Rylea opened her mouth to speak but before she could say a word a hot searing pain racked her body and instead of saying something she wrapped her arms around herself and sucked in air through her clenched teeth. Something wasn't right about what was happening to her and Rylea could feel it. She'd never had this kind of feeling or pain before and now it was coming more and more frequently with more intensity each time. The pain increased to where she was doubling over in anguish from it, her knees gave out and she began to sag to the ground.

Tadin frowned as he grabbed her before she could fall to the ground. He had no idea what was wrong with her and was worried that it might be serious. Thinking quickly he swooped her up into his arms and began to carry her from the alley they stood in. He might not have known what was going on with her, but he hoped that certain other people would. "Hang on Lea, I'm taking you home," he said down to the girl in his arms as he hurried off in the direction that her house was. "I'm getting you to some people who can help you."

With a gasp of pain Rylea's head rolled to the side as she passed out in his arms. Tadin frowned more as he picked up his pace, now more worried then he had been before. He was almost in a panic to get her home now as he flew down the streets of the demon community and headed for the streets of the mortals.

A/N: Ok, sorry that it took me so long to write this but I was kind of at a block as to how I wanted to do it and who and how much I wanted to put in it. I know, I lied and said that the girls were going to be in this but I decided not to put them in here. I did put the guys in here though. :: Ok, next chap I promise I will have the girls in here though (or at least try to have them in it) Special thanks go to Two-Bitgortez, Rogue, BlackBull289, MorganRay and Sifirela. Muchos gracias to all of you.